The present invention relates to a swaging tool for the teeth, or bits, of large saw blades, and is applicable to inserted-tooth saws and solid-tooth saws. The invention is particularly applicable to wood cutting saws.
During industrial utilization of sawing machines, particularly those employing large saw blades, it is necessary to periodically restore the cutting edges of the teeth in order to maintain proper cutting efficiency. In saw mills, for example, where such blades are in practically continuous use, this procedure might have to be carried out several times during a work shift.
Commonly, the teeth of such saw blades or bands are restored by a procedure involving swaging which is done manually followed by filing, manually or with a power grinder. Swaging is effectuated by positioning a swaging tool around each tooth in turn and striking the rear end of the tool with a hammer. The tool presents one or two recesses which define the desired final shape of the major tooth surfaces. The tool is formed so that the, or each, recess is substantially wider than the tooth and must be carefully positioned to treat each side of the tooth individually.
Because such a tool can restore a saw tooth to only an approximation of its original shape, it is generally necessary to follow the swaging operation with a hand filing or power grinding of each blade tooth.
Large saw blades of the type here under consideration contain a large number of teeth and the above-described reshaping operations are relatively time consuming. For example, swaging and filing of a 56 inch diameter circular saw blade which will have of the order of 55 teeth generally takes 30 to 45 minutes, so that the performance of two complete reshaping procedures during the course of a work shift results in a significant down time.
Moreover, hand swaging operations must be performed with a high degree of skill and care since the tool must be perfectly oriented relative to the blade tooth at the instant of each hammer blow. Any tilting of the swaging tool away from proper orientation will result in the production of incorrect bevel or edge angles.